


Inconvenience

by notenoughcoffee



Series: Shared Moments [3]
Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-23 04:15:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19143382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notenoughcoffee/pseuds/notenoughcoffee
Summary: Aragon knows something is wrong when Anne hasn't ruined her day.





	Inconvenience

Catherine knew something wasn’t right when she opened the fridge for the milk and saw the container on the shelf with her leftovers from Zizzi’s she had placed there the night before. Even stranger, was Anne’s box from Pizza Express sitting right below it. 

Anne had an insatiable appetite that peaked around 2AM every night. Typically, anything left in the refrigerator would be long gone well before breakfast would roll around. Although it was infuriating at first, all of the girls had learned very quickly that if they wanted to eat something later, not even a note threatening grievous bodily harm taped to it would deter Anne in her quest for snackings. 

To see both meals sitting undisturbed was a rare sight. 

Catherine chalked it up to a one-off occasion, wondering if she should warm up her risotto and have an early lunch or risk it being gone the next time she checked. A glance at the clock made up her mind. Risotto at 7:30 was not how she wanted to start her day. 

Catherine’s next indication that something was off was the clock in the living room chiming noon, with no sign of Anne’s standard havoc wreaking. Anne never slept in. Driven by hunger and an innate compulsion to antagonize, she was always up. 

Had Catherine slept through Anne’s habitual noise? Had it become so commonplace in the house that she was no longer phased by it?

Catherine knew that Katherine and Anna had been planning on running errands that morning. Maybe Anne had gone with them?

She could have called or texted, but thought it better than to tempt fate, and just enjoyed her warmed-up risotto.

When Katherine and Anna bounded through the door several hours later, exuberantly babbling about how many dogs they were able to play with in the park, Catherine expected to hear Anne’s familiar pleas for them to adopt a dog of their own. She looked around the two girls and saw no one. Katherine turned to look behind her when she saw Catherine’s gaze. 

“Um, everything alright?”

“Yeah. It’s just,” Catherine didn’t know what it was that was bothering her really. She wasn’t sure how to explain. “I thought Anne was with you.”

“Nope. Just us,” Anna confirmed. “What? Are you worried or something?”

“Is that concern in your voice? Careful now. We might begin to think you’re growing fond of her,” Katherine teased, delighting in the opportunity to lord something over Catherine.

“Please, even to say that I tolerate her is a vast overstatement,” Catherine tried to make her voice sound nonchalant, stern even, but could feel the undercurrent of worry breaking through. 

She politely made excuses before taking her leave of the two girls still regalling each other with mundane stories about their interactions with the dogs. 

Before she realized what she was doing, she found herself knocking gently on Anne’s bedroom door. All the while, she chastised herself for not checking in on her sooner, for not calling, for not texting, for not talking to anyone else to learn whether they had seen or heard from her, while simultaneously berating herself for caring at all. 

There was no answer. 

Conflicting emotions made her stall for just a moment before pushing the door open. 

On the bed was an Anne sized lump, cocooned in a tangle of blankets. A tendril of dark hair had been freed from the cotton confines, knotted and sweaty, it laid across her pillow. 

“Anne?”

Still no answer.

Catherine made the arduous trek across Anne’s cluttered bedroom floor and reached out to pull the blanket away from Anne’s face. She could feel the heat radiating off her before her hand was even close. 

“Oh, sweetheart,” she murmured, pulling the blankets further back. Anne gave a soft groan as she tried, futilely, to keep her covers where they were. 

“M’sick,” Anne managed.

“Yeah. I can see that. I’ll be right back.”

***

A change of sheets, several cold compresses, paracetamol, and a delivery of Anne’s favorite soup later, Anne’s fever was reduced and she was sleeping soundly once more. Catherine continued to rub soothing circles on her back.

“I shouldn’t care for your life, but I’m starting to and it’s becoming an inconvenience.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Two prompts for this one! "To say I tolerate you is a vast overstatement," and "I shouldn't care for your life, but I'm starting to and it's becoming an inconvenience."


End file.
